Different eyes
by balbriggansmith
Summary: The world always changes and yet somehow stays the same. This sometimes comforting yet sometimes horrifying truth stays with humanity through the ages, but some believe it shouldn't. Some believe its time for a new world and would do anything to achieve it even if they must destroy the world to save it. An AU story, rating may go up later.


The sun rose slowly on Kyoshi island revealing a small village being tickle by gentle winds. A lone statue, well worn by the turn of times wheel, stood in the centre of the village as a testimony to the one who created the sleepy island. It was here that a young woman by the name of Suki called her home. Her eyes opened lazily as she sat up only for her head to start throbbing. She sat up and put her head in her hands with a sigh. Her face seemed trapped in a whirlwind of indecision for a moment before she stood up and stretch.

"_Training comes before anything else" _she thought to herself as she went to wash herself. After a brisk wash she got dressed, donned her face paint and headed out. It was a short walk to the dojo, a term unique to her island home, but it was far enough away that she could enjoy natures beauty while walking. Small birds sung in the trees, the waves could be heard in the distance and the sun smiled a warm smile upon her path. It was a good day on her small island home.

She entered the dojo first, finding it empty as per usual, and began her warm-up. She quickly lost herself in it, so much in fact she did not hear the other approach.

"Hey, Suki" called out one of her fellow warriors as she entered in full armour and face paint "Should we start our drills"

"Yeah, get warmed up Yuno" grinned Suki "I have some _fun _things for you to do today"

"You just had to say something didn't you" said another girl as she walked in, also in full kit. Yuno pouted and the two got into an argument though it was nothing serious. The people of the Kyoshi were like one big family and rather hot blooded, friendly spats were normal among those charged with protecting that family. Suki found it heart-warming to see the two's mock glares and barely covered smiles.

"Alright, that's enough you two, the others are arriving, into your positions" smiled Suki as she took front and centre. The other girls filed in, the last arriving ten minutes later. They went through their basic warm-up and then revised the basic forms of the art they practised. An art of war. Suki couldn't help but frown as that thought occurred to her, she shook her head a moment later.

"_The war hasn't touched Kyoshi since its beginning, just about one hundred years now, we could hardly be drawn into it at this stage" _she thought as she began the advanced forms, her fellow warriors following suit. She could help thinking about it, the war had ravaged the world and Kyoshi was but one island. They could fight anything that approached right down til the last woman fell, but she knew that if the fire nation did come then Kyoshi would fall.

"_Not without a fight it won't"_ she thought as she picked up the pace of their routine. The rest of the warriors responded to the increase in speed, a speed which was maintained for the rest of practise. At the end the warriors bowed, some of the younger ones gasping for air, and Suki dismissed them. They talked as they left, about simple things, about boys and the local gossip. Something Suki couldn't help but think couldn't last. She wondered if she was becoming paranoid as she looked at the warriors that still stood there. With a nod they formed up and followed her out of the dojo. As the seniors they had a duty to patrol and maintain the safety of the island. They moved wordlessly, something Suki was grateful for, it was comforting to know that they thought the same as she. That their home was better safe than burned to the ground.

They moved north through the trees in loose formation, moving quickly and silently. Suddenly she heard a signal and her head snapped to the left. One of her warriors were pointing at the sea or more accurately at the three ships in the sea approaching the island. She motioned her hand and they rushed downhill, only stopping at the tree line which sat on the beach. The ships were wooden and held no emblem of the fire nations. It wasn't like the fire nation navy to not try outright intimidation when subjugating an area nor did they use wooden ships, but that didn't mean it wasn't a threat. Pirates prowled the seas, taking advantage of the wars chaos to prey on coastal settlements. Looking at the ships she could help but notice something odd. There was no wind today and yet the ships were moving fast, far faster than they should be. She glanced at her women and knew they were thinking the same thing.

_Waterbenders?_

It didn't make any sense, the only way they could move ships of that size on a windless day was if most of the crew were waterbenders and that would suggest the water tribe was involved somehow yet these ships weren't water tribe by design. Pirates simply didn't have enough benders on their side. There was nowhere they could recruit them, no one had heard of waterbenders coming from the south in over a generation and going too far north was a good way for a pirate ship to get sunk as many an unlawful vessel had found out.

Then the ships came to a sudden halt and raised a banner of peace. The warriors all looked at Suki in confusion, but the girl continued to stare straight ahead. She had seen something. She motioned for two warriors to follow her and walked out into the open. One of the warriors leaned over and whispered in her ear. Suki nodded to the request for sending a message to the village, it was something she should of done straight away. She then turned her gaze to the small boat that was about to land and the people on it. She saw a woman with short red hair and tanned skin, she had a fierce gaze which matched her black clothes which, to Suki's interest, had gold dragons along the sleeve. Across from her was a pale lanky man with black hair who was wearing bark and leaves like it was a set of fine clothes, he looked quite relaxed. Sitting next to him was a smiling teenager of maybe sixteen with long brown hair and also had lightly tanned skin, he was wearing a beige cloak over some loose pants leaving toned muscles revealed. He also looked...beautiful?

Suki walked closer to the shore as the strange group stepped out of the boat. The two sides gazed at each other for a few seconds before the red haired woman stepped forwards.

"My name is Rizas" said the woman, her voice as forceful as her demeanour suggested, "Is this Kyoshi island?"

"Yes it is" Suki said her eyes narrowing, "Why"

"Well hasn't this worked out well Rizas" said the smiling man, "My name is Hao and I was wondering if I could talk to your leader"

"And why should we trust you" said Suki, narrowing her eyes "Tell me what your business here is or stop wasting my time"

"Touchy" smirked Rizas, "we're here to discuss mutual protection and safe houses, the fire nation is stepping up its assault on the earth kingdom and the world is running out of places to run, not even Kyoshi can avoid the conflict forever"

"In other words" said the leaf man with a strange accent, "we want to invite you to our alliance, the alliance of the lost ways, I reckon there ain't nowhere in the world like Kyoshi and if it's people are lost then its spirit is lost for good too"

"I see" murmured Suki. It was an interesting proposition and it was quite true that Kyoshi couldn't avoid the conflict forever. If this strange assortment of people could supply protection and indeed somewhere for her people to go if they can't hold onto their home then it was worth looking into. As much as she hated to admit it, Kyoshi wasn't strong enough to stand on its own and it would burn like so many others if they simply hoped for the fire nation to continue to pass them by. The Daimyo did need to hear this, if only to see what they truly offered.

"Very well, follow me then" she said turning and walking back into the forest.

* * *

Suki sat across from the leaf man, who turned out to be called Due, while having dinner. The Daimyo had invited her and their guests to dinner to discuss the matters at hand. Suki wasn't sure what the deal was with the group, they seemed to be good people but there was something about the way they held themselves that threw her off. Especially the one called Hao, he was young yet seemed far too collected for his age, that calm smile almost seemed inhuman. They finished their meal in polite silence before the daimyo put his cup down.

"Now, tell me about this proposition" said Daimyo Shingen, sitting in a more comfortable position. Rizas and Due looked at each other and then at Hao. This caused Suki's eyes to narrow once more, he was by far the youngest so why act subordinate to him. Hao drank his drink slowly and put it down softly, tilting his head at the Daimyo.

"Our proposition is simple, a military alliance between us" said Hao, his serene smile unmoving, "We already have an alliance between myself and my comrades but that is hardly a reason not to offer the same to the people of Kyoshi herself, after all we are stronger together than we will ever be apart"

"And what will this alliance entail, Kyoshi has stayed out of this war for a hundred years and we have no wish to enter it now"

"Hardly an issue, none of us are currently in conflict with the fire nation but that can't last forever, they march east through the earth kingdom as an unrelenting force of nature which means we can't evade them forever, and therefore neither can you"

"So your alliance is a contingency plan should the worst happen" mused the Daimyo to himself, "I suppose that does sound worthwhile, but I cannot agree to anything unless I see what you would do in the event of an attack"

"Sounds reasonable" said Hao motioning to Due who took out a map of the world. It had several red dots marked on it in seemingly random locations, she spotted what appeared to be a swamp to an unknown place in the northern fire nation. She felt slightly on edge at this, who were these people to have anything like a presence in the fire nation itself. She also saw some strange symbols done the side that she failed to recognize.

"These red dots you see are our safehouses, locations members of the alliance can run if they come under heavy attack from our common enemy and cannot hold out" said Hao pointing at the map, then moving to the symbols, "These are the symbols of the members of the alliance, they aren't very recognisable since our tribes are long forgotten, one can use them as a sort of password to enter a safehouse along with a keyword"

"I see and Kyoshi would become one such safehouse as I presume your own homelands to be"

"Indeed, here is the home of Rizas who is one of the Sun warriors, in this swamp is the home of the Foggy Swamp tribe where Due hails from and here is my own home in these mountains of the Northern Earth Kingdom, we are known as the Whisperers"

"These Sun warriors are located in the fire nation" questioned Shingen, his eyes narrowing. Suki let her hand fall to her fan. The atmosphere of the room tensed immediately. There was a few more moments of silence before the still relaxed Hao spoke.

"Indeed they are, the sun warriors predate the fire civilisation and were the first human firebenders" he spoke softly, "They know the true meaning of firebending, a meaning the fire nation has long forgotten, they fight to return that meaning to their people and to stop them form destroying themselves"

"I see" said Daimyo Shingen, relaxing slightly though not by much, "And tell me more about the rest of your tribes, I don't want any more surprises"

"Of course" said Hao, his small smile growing, "Due here is from the Foggy Swamp tribe who are a lost tribe of waterbenders and myself, my people are what's left of the air nomads"

"I-I what!" choked out the Daimyo in alarm. Hao picked up a small piece of fruit and blew. The fruit lifted off his hand and began circling around his cup. He then put it back down on its stand with the rest of the grapes and turned to Shingen, "And before you ask the answer is no, we have no idea where the avatar vanished to, all we know is that he once lived in the southern air temple"

"I see...that is a shame, but why has the world not heard of you, everyone believes airbenders to be extinct"

"True and we prefer it stayed that way for our own safety as the fire nation wouldn't stop until our annihilation" said Hao, leaning back slightly, "At least until the right moment arises for us to reveal ourselves"

"So you believe the avatar will return, that he will come to save the world again after vanishing for so many years or at least an oppurtunity as good will arise" said the chief, his brow furrowing and his eyes conflicted. Suki couldn't blame him, this was a lot to take in at once. Firebenders fighting against the fire nation, unknown waterbenders and surviving airbenders. This would be a night to remember for a long time, of this she was sure. Whatever the Daimyo decided would effect the future of Kyoshi for years to come and this didn't seem like something they could back out of. She listened calmly as the Daimyo spoke.

"Very well, on behalf of Kyoshi I accept your offer"


End file.
